John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke

The Earl of Pembroke
Born	October 1372
Died	30th December 1389 (aged 16–17)
Title	Earl of Pembroke Baron Abergavenny Baron Manny
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth of Lancaster Philippa Mortimer
Parent(s)	John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke Anne Manny, 2nd Baroness Manny

John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (October 1372 – 30 December 1389) was the son of John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Anne Manny, 2nd Baroness Manny. He was also Baron Abergavenny.

Infant Inheritance

He succeeded his father as an infant in 1375.

Marriage

He married Elizabeth of Lancaster the daughter of John of Gaunt, in 1380, but the marriage was unconsummated (he was 8 and she 17 at the time of the marriage) and was annulled after she became pregnant by John Holland, whom she subsequently married.^[1]

He subsequently married Philippa Mortimer, daughter of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, but had no children, dying shortly afterwards in a jousting accident.

Death in a Joust

Richard II held his Christmas court at Woodstock Palace in 1389, and the seventeen year old Pembroke took part in the Christmas sports, including jousting. While running a course against Sir John Des, he was struck in the groin by his opponent's lance and subsequently died of his injuries. Upon his death, the Earldom of Pembroke and the Barony of Manny became extinct, while the Barony of Hastings passed to his cousin, John Hastings, 6th Baron Hastings, heir by the half blood through his great grandfather.^[2] Also the parish of Tunstall, Kent passed to his cousin Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn.^[3] His cousins litigated for years regarding property rights, but resolution was delayed during the minority of Edward Hastings, 7th Baron Hastings, brother of the 6th Baron Hastings. When 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn prevailed at law as heir by the whole blood through his paternal grandmother Elizabeth de Hastings, 7th Baron Hastings refused to pay court costs while the case was on appeal (to not create a presumption of acquiescence based on the contemporary rules of evidence) and was imprisoned in chains.^[3]

Pembroke was described by the chronicler as being mourned by the common people as well as the nobility, by reason of his kind and generous nature.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke

16. John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings               8. John Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings                       17. Isabel de Valence               4. Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke                             18. Sir Thomas de Leyburn               9. Juliana Leyburne                       19. Alice de Toeni               2. John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke                                   20. Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer               10. Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March                       21. Margaret de Fiennes               5. Agnes Mortimer                             22. Piers de Geneville               11. Joan de Geneville                       23. Jeanne of Lusignan               1. John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke                                         6. Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny                             3. Anne Hastings, Countess of Pembroke                                   28. Edward I of England               14. Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk                       29. Margaret of France               7. Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk                             30. Sir Roger Hayles               15. Alice Hayles                       31. Alice Skogan

References

1. Weir, Alison (2007). Katherine Swynford: The story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess. London: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-8857-4., pp 220-1
2. Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. Volumes 1–20, 22. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1921–1922.
3. Hasted, Edward (1798). "Parishes". The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. Institute of Historical Research. 6: 80–98. Retrieved 4 April 2014.

• Translation from Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi